RELEASE: Wednesday, April 8, 2009
BY: Larry Grimaldi, Chief of Information & Public Relations
DEA AWARDED HEALTH INSURANCE GRANT
CRANSTON ---Corinne Calise Russo, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Elderly Affairs, has announced that the agency has been awarded a one-year $201,000 grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to continue providing health insurance counseling to seniors and adults with disabilities. The grant covers the period of April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010.
The State Health Insurance Program provides information and support to Medicare beneficiaries about their benefits and health insurance choices.
“This grant will allow DEA to continue to help beneficiaries get the most out of their health insurance,” Russo observed.
“SHIP is valuable education and information tool for seniors and adults with disabilities,”
she said.
Nearly $36 million has been granted to 54 SHIPs across the nation. DEA has sponsored a SHIP in Rhode Island since 1989.
The Rhode Island Senior Health Insurance Program SHIP is part of a national partnership to help consumers determine their health care options. SHIP volunteers provide one-to-one counseling to seniors, adults with disabilities, families, and caregivers. The program is designed to help seniors and adults with disabilities understand health care cost and coverage and to deal with issues regarding health care.
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Volunteer SHIP counselors can discuss Medicare, Medicare drug plans, supplemental insurance, Medicare Advantage plans, free and reduced-cost medical care programs, federal retiree health insurance, Veterans benefits, long-term care insurance and other programs.
Currently there are more than 100 SHIP volunteers in the state. Last year, these volunteers counseled 11,249 seniors and adults with disabilities and/or their caregivers.
“The Rhode Island State Health Insurance Assistance Program serves an important role in providing information and support to people with Medicare all across Rhode Island,” said CMS Acting Administrator Charlene Frizzera. “This new funding will help to ensure that the Rhode Island SHIP continues to work with local governments, community-based organizations and other partners in Rhode Island to help meet the needs of our Medicare beneficiaries.”
CMS expects the SHIPs to use the 2009 funding to conduct targeted community-based outreach to people with Medicare who may be unable to access other sources of information. SHIPs will also provide outreach and assistance to current and newly eligible Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers, with a special emphasis on reaching people who will most likely be eligible for Medicare’s low-income subsidy if they enroll in Medicare prescription drug coverage.
The Rhode Island State Health Insurance Program will use grant funds in part to partner with the Department of Labor and Training’s One Stop employment centers and the Department of Health and Human Services regional Food Stamp Eligibility Offices to identify and reach low-income beneficiaries. The RI SHIP will also form new partnerships with community mental health centers and social service and behavioral health agencies to reach and serve Rhode Islander beneficiaries with disabilities. Partnerships will be developed with consumer and family advocacy groups such as The Sherlock Center, the Developmental Disabilities Council, Advocates in Action and Parents for Alternative Living.
For more information on SHIP, call THE POINT resource center at 452-4444.
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